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9.
Reading’s Commitment to
Affordable Housing
In March 2011, MassHousing rejected a 40B proposal
“Reading
has
made
a
good-­‐faith
eﬀort
to
increase
its
aﬀordable
housing
stock,
most
notably
by
approving
two
Smart
Growth
Overlay
Zoning
Districts
under
Chapter
40R”
“the
parcel
of
land
already
included
two
exisEng
homes
that
ﬁt
in
well
with
the
paGern
of
development
in
the
surrounding
neighborhood”…and
to
“replace
the
exisEng
homes
with
20
new
units
of
housing,
especially
in
the
context
of
a
constrained
site
plan,
was
in
our
opinion
ill-­‐advised”

16.
30 Haven Street (DSG)
16
24.5%
of
the
units
have
children 12
children
total
30%
of
the
units
have
pets 15
pets
total
10
dogs
&
5
cats
Cars
7%
or
4
of
the
units
don't
have
cars
Including
27%
of
the
affordable
units
(3
out
of
11)
don't
have
cars
22%
or
11
of
the
total
units
have
2
cars

18.
Downtown Smart Growth
What makes it work?
• Design Guidelines give the community some control
• “As of Right” gives the developer some certainty
• Presence of downtown parking for the commercial
aspects
• Underground parking meets resident parking demand
• Redevelopment gave us the opportunity
• Lots of process
18

19.
Downtown Smart Growth
What does the community get out of it?
• Provision of affordable housing with some level of local
control
• Support for economic development broadly – jobs cannot
grow without housing for workers
• Offers another housing alternative
• Sustainability model of development – less cars on the
roads, ability to walk to work/mass transit
• Community vibrancy and sense of place
• Enhances the community reputation as a great place to
live, work, and play
19

20.
Population Trends –
Ø expected 54% increase in the 60+ age group
from 2010 to 2020;
SHI Regulations –
Ø only received credit for 11 of the 53 rental units at
the Oaktree Development (DSG) since Reading’s
DSG 40R zoning requires only 20% affordable
Ø DHCD regulations require 25% affordability for full
credit of all rental units.
Ø DHCD intends to (has?) clarify this in the future for
potential 40R communities.
20
Challenges and Opportunities